Thoughts on Kingdom, Grace, Culture, and Church

I’ve been a Christian for 36 years and in all of that time I can name 3 or 4 moments where I met a person, attended an event, or, as in this case, read a book that caused a fundamental paradigm shift in my faith and my understanding of the nature of God. Its happened again…and perhaps none too soon.

The next thing I knew I was downloading the above title onto my Kindle. Now understand, I probably haven’t finished a “Christian” book in almost 10 years (and I’m a voracious reader). With Beauty I found I was upset when I got to work in the morning because it meant I had to stop reading. But then I would subject my staff to a play by play analysis of what God was doing in my heart based on what I had read that day.

To put it bluntly… Beauty is helping to bring back my “spiritual mojo”!

Much of what the book discusses I’ve been nibbling around the edges for years. Zahnd puts words to the direction I felt God leading but was asking, “Does anyone else feel this as well?”

So what’s the book about?

A lot of things really. From the beauty of Christ’s work on the cross to an understanding of the Kingdom of God and what it truly means to be a prophetic person. That God has set up an alternative society and He is calling people to be part of it.

The book ends with an “unpacking” of the Sermon on the Mount which, rather than being the nice platitudes of Jesus that we should keep in mind from time to time, they are royal announcements of the fundamental underpinning of the new order which has come, and is now coming.

I’ll finish by saying that the book mentions that the disciples were executed eventually by Rome not because they were sharing that if people received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, they could be saved and go to heaven.

No, the disciples were executed because they were claiming a new King was sitting on the throne and were announcing the establishment of His Kingdom.

mgelizagasays:

Hi Steve!! As I’ve been deconstructing my faith to allow the Holy Spirit to construct it ;), I’ve shyed away from reading any books in the process… but I’m feeling it’s time to try one, and since you’ve read so much and I love all you share here, would you suggest this book as a good starting point or have you read something since that you’d highly recommend?! Would love and appreciate your thoughts!!!